I come from a family of five, and I have the privilege of being the youngest of three children. They say that the youngest is always the spoiled one. I say, they are correct. However, I have never taken their love and generosity for granted. By their love and support, I have become the person that I am today, and I would not have it any other way. Three years ago, our family grew closer together by the grace of the birth of my beautiful niece. Ever since then, our family has built an even stronger bond with each other. My family means the world to me, and I can’t thank God enough for blessing me with their presence.

I was baptized into the Catholic Church a few months after my family moved to Canada from the Philippines. At the age of three, I was introduced to the faith, but I didn’t really make much of it in the beginning. Since then I kind of just went “through the motions” of being a Catholic. I received the Sacraments of First Communion, Reconciliation and Confirmation. I also went to a Catholic elementary and secondary school. Don’t get me wrong, I loved God, but I just didn’t know why… yet. Even though I felt like I was doing these things just because it was expected of me, I later realized their importance as I became more intentional with learning about my faith.

Being the youngest of the family, I looked up to my older siblings. As they became more involved in our parish, I wanted to do so as well. Both of my siblings became Youth Group leaders for four years each. Later on, I felt called to be a Youth Group leader, and therefore continued on the Salvador legacy for another 4 years. I owe it to them for leading me towards Christ. My spiritual life has been a roller coaster of emotions, however, as much as I have times of doubt, all I know is that I cannot live a life without Christ.

I think the biggest turning point in my relationship with Jesus was a combination of my involvement with CCO at Ryerson University, and with the Archdiocese of Toronto. Through the CCO Discovery Faith Study, I came to the realization that I needed a personal relationship with God, and that He should be at the centre of my life. Before that, I kind of pushed God aside and never made Him my priority. Through this realization, I knew that it was time for me to take a leap of faith and totally surrender myself to the Lord. That is when I got involved with the Archdiocese of Toronto and became a missionary for their summer program called Totus Tuus. In this process, my prayer life has deepened and, in turn, my relationship with Christ grew stronger. I have entrusted my life to God’s hands and I knew that I went through all of this for a reason. All of these experiences have helped me with my discernment process for CCO, and that is why I am here right now. At this point, I know that there is so much more that I can do to serve the Lord. I don’t want to waste another second without praising Him and sharing His love with the world!

I am honored to be a part of the Human Resources department working as a missionary at headquarters. I think that God has blessed me with this great opportunity to share the skills and knowledge that I have received in my post-secondary education (Bachelor of Commerce, Human Resources Major).

The highlight of my role of being a missionary right now is being able to tell everyone what I am doing as my full-time job. That is, to proclaim the Gospel and make God known. I’ve been able to tell people, Catholic or not, about what we do as missionaries and, surprisingly, everyone has been very supportive. I have been able to talk to more people about my encounter with Christ within this past month than I did last year. As a result, I have been able to strengthen these relationships and become more comfortable in talking about my faith.

I have been blessed to be able to experience the annual Rise Up conference last year and it was amazing. To see so many young people across Canada come together to learn more about our faith, welcoming the Holy Spirit into their lives, and fearlessly expressing their love for Christ was just so inspiring.

I’ve already seen so many changes in my life, and I cannot thank God enough for giving me this opportunity to grow. To be honest, I really didn’t know if I had what it took to be a CCO missionary. However, in my process of discernment, it just became more clear that God does not call the equipped, but He equips the called! Just in this short period of time, I have become more confident in the Lord; entrusting Him with my life. He has been able to work through me and prepare me to be on this mission. I have been called, and I can’t wait to see what else He has in store for me.

ONGOING PRAYER REQUESTS

For the strength and courage to stand up for my faith, no matter what the circumstances

For vocations, that we may confidently respond to His call and surrender ourselves according to His will

For all university students, that they may open their hearts to the work of the Holy Spirit